Song of Mexico

My apologies for presuming to tell a story too big to be told,

a story of a world not mine, but one that sears my heart, 

a vain attempt to catch lightning with my fingertips.

Song of Mexico

The explorers came with greed in their hearts.

The priests came with God in their hearts.

The Conquistadors came with disease on their breath.

The People gave them their gold,

Accepted their God,

Died in waves.

Only the hardy remained,

Went within,

Scratching ancient dreams onto their pots,

Weaving rainbows of tears into their serapes.

Hiding stories in the sacred bark paper,

Surviving on frijoles and tortillas,

Building homes from cactus and clay,

Drawing family close and singing

Of love and death,

Dancing their connection to

Sun and earth, 

fire and water.

Survived.

Grew strong.

Rose up.

Built a nation.

Became Mexicans.

Waited.

***** Behind the Scenes: *****

This morning words woke me up. They didn't care that the story they were telling wasn't their own.

Yesterday a friend sent me the results of Nikon's Small World 2018 contest. Mind boggling stunning. I have "borrowed two of them for the Song of Mexico image above because they are so beautiful and appropriate for this piece. Special thanks to the incredible photographers.

Photographer Norm Barker: a human tear drop

Charles Krebs: acorn barnacle